


Fresh Start

by gosteadyonme



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV), Twilight (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-03-15 05:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13606398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gosteadyonme/pseuds/gosteadyonme
Summary: After Bella realises why she can’t choose between Edward & Jacob she leaves Forks, somehow she finds her way to Mystic Falls where a whole new life awaits her. Will her life ever be boring?





	1. Beginning with an End.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, a million years ago in 2010, I started this story on FF .net, and when I came back to continue it I found some inaccuracies.
> 
> So here I am to fix it and hopefully finish it.
> 
> Cross your fingers for me?

DISCLAIMER [I'm only gonna say this once!]:  
If you recognise it, I don't own it.

[This chapter contains extracts from Eclipse, although I've manipulated & reordered some of them to fit my story.]

 

  
_The corner of her mouth turned up in a wistful half smile. "I used to think of you that way, you know. Like the sun. My own personal sun. You balanced out the clouds nicely for me."_

_He sighed. "The clouds I can handle. But I can't fight with an eclipse."_

_She touched his face, laying her hand against his cheek. He exhaled at her touch and closed his eyes. It was very quiet. For a minute she could hear the beating of his heart, slow and even._

_"Tell me the worst part for you," he whispered._

_How could she deny him anything at this point?_

_"The worst part is I saw the whole thing - our life. I never had a choice, I always knew nothing would change. Maybe that's why I was fighting against you so hard."_

_He shook his head, "Thank you for being honest. I'll be good now."_

_She ducked her head, "I'm sorry, I have to go."_

_He watched her walk out of his room with an unfathomable expression in his black eyes._

_"Wait for me upstairs," she mumbled when they were in front of her dads house._

_He hugged her tightly for a moment and then he was gone. Once inside, she headed straight for the stairs._

_"Bella?" her dad called after her from his usual place on the sofa as she walked by._

_She turned to look at him, nodding to convey that Jacob was fine before heading once again to the stairs. When she reached her room it was empty, a single note on her desk;_

__  
**"My Dearest Bella,  
** Carlisle has called on me for a family meeting, I shall be back before you know it,  
Love, Edward." 

_  
Dropping the note back onto her desk, she picked up the velvet box holding what was now her engagement ring and lay upon her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her hindsight seemed unbearably clear tonight. She could see every mistake she had ever made, every bit of harm she'd done, the small things and the big things. Each pain she had caused Jacob, each wound she'd given Edward. All of it stacked into neat piles that she could no longer ignore or deny. And, in that moment, looking at that blue velvet ring box, everything snapped into place and she knew why she could never choose either man as her own._

She loved them both but was in love with neither.


	2. A Filled Heart

In that moment of clarity, Bella Swan pulled out her duffle bag from where it lay discarded under her bed and began grabbing the things she needed. A few changes of clothes, her scrapbook, Jacobs bracelet, Edward's notes, some toiletries and her camera. With everything packed she made her way down the stairs and dropped her stuff by the door before walking back to a very confused Charlie.

"Bella? You spending the night at the Cullen’s?"

She sighed embracing her dad tightly, for once the alien motion felt good. "I love you dad."

Suddenly her dad was holding her at arms length, "What's going on Bells?"

She felt her eyes water at obvious fear in his voice, obviously remembering the last time she’d walked out without warning. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the ring box, "I need you to give this back to Edward and tell him not to look for me.”

Charlie took the box from her and opened it, letting out a low whistle. "This is what you need to do?"

Bella smiled up at her dad, somehow even though they didn't speak often, he always understood her and trusted her, although when he left the room without another word it hurt. Wiping a tear from her eye she headed to the door.

"Bells?"

She turned to see her dad holding a bag out to her, "Take this, for my peace of mind."

As she reached for it he embraced her before kissing her on the head and making her promise to keep in touch.

-FS-FS-FS-FS-

She breathed a sigh of relief she didn't realise she was holding when she reached the interstate, heading south. The sunnier the place, the less chance she had of the Cullen's finding her and showing up to bring her back before a realisation hit her that almost caused her to get more intimate with the driver in the front. Alice would be watching for her, looking out for any decisions she made about where she was going. Bella began thinking of different places she could go, hoping it would throw Alice far enough off of her trail.

-FS-FS-FS-FS-

She'd been driving for nearly 14 hours when she realised she was hungry, adrenaline could only get you so far apparently. Concentrating on that big wheel in the middle of London she pulled over into the car park of the next first motel she passed and bought a single room for the night.

Once she settled in her room she opened the bag her dad had given her, not having had chance to do so beforehand.

What was inside surprised Bella a little. There was a gun, a few spare magazines, protein shakes & bars, a pair of wooden knuckle dusters and a small box. Putting aside her new arsenal she pulled out the box, flipping the catch on the lid. Inside there was an old note, a ring and a simple silver bracelet with a hallow glass heart filled with what smelt like rose oil. Putting them both on she picked up the note;

  
" ** _Swan Family,  
_** Thank you for taking me in, with these I repay you, if you leave Forks wear them as not all of the world is as safe.  
-Bennett"

  
Bella knew she should've been worried or at least questioning the contents of the bag but she was way too tired to care right now. Without even getting changed, she flopped back onto the bed and let sleep take a hold, hoping she was too tired to dream about what she'd done in leaving Forks.


	3. Sharing Flowers

Bella woke the next morning feeling pretty refreshed but smelling pretty bad. After a quick shower and raiding the motels vending machine for its meagre supplies, she repacked her stuff and loaded it into the bed of her truck before pulling back onto the highway, now heading towards the east coast. Window down, hair flying everywhere, some upbeat tune of the radio as the early morning sun rose.

By the time night began to fall she was just leaving North Carolina and cruising into Virginia. Cracking open the window again she breathed in some Virginian air. It was fresh and the area was green but not to the extent of Forks. Maybe she'd stop here while she figured out where she was going to go. She passed through some of the bigger towns and cities before coming across the cutest bedsit she'd ever seen.

" **Mrs Flowers' Bedsit, Mystic Falls, VA** "

She was just climbing out of the cab of her truck when someone stood in front of her. A little taller than Bella, long dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and an unmistakable air of self importance. Normally Bella would've backed down without a thought and hidden behind her hair but that was Edward's Bella, this was supposed to be a fresh start, so gathering every trace of confidence she could find within herself she bit out, "Can I help you?"

The girl just tilted her head, studying me before looking back over her shoulder at another woman, this one much older, Mrs Flowers, Bella assumed.

"Oh, lets get you in before this rain starts," she called to Bella. "I'm not sure you should be going out in this weather Miss Pierce."

Miss Pierce turned back to the bedsit owner, "I'll be fine Mrs Flowers, I’ve just got to pay a friend a visit, I’ll be back before you know it", she winked at Bella as she reached into the trucks bed to get her duffle bag and the bag her dad had given her, getting into the house just as the rain began to fall, looking back out at it she could've sworn she saw the other brunette disappear.

- **FS-FS-FS-FS** -

When Bella had arrived at the bedsit, her plan had been just to regroup but after seeing this 'Miss Pierce' moving faster than Edward, she was intrigued. For one, she hadn't looked like the Cullen's or any Cold One she’d ever met. Yes, she was beautiful but not in their inhuman way and also her eyes, they were brown instead of gold or even red. Bemusing on her knack for attracting trouble, Bella decided she'd look for it instead, maybe that way there would be less surprises.

- **FS-FS-FS-FS** -

The next morning Bella was woken by a knock on her door. Opening it she found Mrs Flowers stood on the other side holding her ATM card and a distressed expression on her ageing features.

"Is there something wrong?" Bella asked, dreading the answer.

"I'm afraid the payment on your card bounced, apparently your card was cancelled by your father when you went missing," the elderly lady told her slowly, clearly wanting to an explanation... or some gossip to share.

Bella frowned, she didn’t remember going missing, she'd told her dad where she was going, heck she'd text him just the night before. Pulling out her phone, she dialled her dads number, holding up a finger to signal for Mrs Flowers to give her a minute.

" _Bella?_ "  
"I'm missing?"  
" _It's the only way I could think of to stop him finding you, sorry._ "  
"Of course, someone could traced it. Thanks."

Chucking her phone onto the bed she turned back to the landlady, "If you don’t mind, I'll just check my purse."

A cold hand on her forearm stopped her, she looked up to find Miss Pierce holding her in place. "Put her on my tab, Mrs Flowers."

Bella saw Mrs Flowers smile at Miss Pierce before bustling away.

"Can I have my arm back?"

Miss Pierce smirked at her, "That's no way to say thank you."

"I didn't ask for your help, although, last time a vampire tried to help me, they ended up dead, so by all means, carry on." Bella retorted calmly whilst yanking her arm out of Pierce's hold.

Bella raised an eyebrow as she watched the smile grow on the other woman’s face, "You're smart, funny, It’s refreshing. Your name?"

"What's yours?"

She laughed in disbelief, "And sassy. I'm Katherine Pierce, but I like you,” a smirk grew on the other woman’s face, something about it unsettling Bella, “You can call me Kat."


	4. Deer Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the most changed chapter yet.  
> After a trip through the original versions reviews I found some common themes to the comments. 'It's good but it needs to be more descriptive, it needs to be longer'  
> So I tried. I hope I didn't mess it up.

“Bella Swan, but I don't particularly get the feeling I'll like you, so can call me Isabella,” she responded smirking, trying with all her might to not let her voice shake.

Katherine raised an eyebrow, “I really ought to avoid people with that name. Hang on. Swan?”

Bella just nodded, hoping the other woman would elaborate on the reason behind the urgency of the question. Unfortunately nothing in her life was ever that easy.

“Huh,” Katherine shrugged, “I'm going now, but I'll be back.”

“What for?” Bella asked, trying to fathom what she could want from her.

“Repayment of course,” was all she said before disappearing.

 

**-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-**

 

Bella had stayed in her room long enough hang up the few clothes she'd brought with her before chucking a shirt over her vest and heading out to see the rest of Mystic Falls. With a set of confusing directions that only a long time local could give _('If you see a wooden bridge with the prettiest tall trees, you've missed the turning in to town darling')_ Bella climbed into her truck and pulled out of the bedsits car park.

 

**-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-**

 

With her windows down and a warm breeze floating around her, Bella pulled into the town square. It wasn't much bigger than Forks but it felt rich in history.

A quick glance at the clock on her dash told her it was only midday, which would explain why it looked so empty, anyone her age would be in school. Which she needed to sort, she thought, sighing as she climbed down from the cab. Originally she'd been planning to enroll in some sort of home-schooling program, it was what had made the most sense when she had been planning to travel. That was before her dad had cancelled her card. Now she was going to have to figure it all out again.

With a soda she'd gotten from a small shop, she sat on a bench in the center of the square and mused on her future. Obviously until she got some kind of employment, she was close to broke. _Gas cost money_. She hoped whatever interest Katherine held in her would last long enough for her to find work and make enough money to continue her journey to … somewhere. And to get employment, she was going to need an education. It looked like she was going to get to be the new girl all over again.

Great.

 

**-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-**

 

She was almost back to the bedsit when she must've taken a wrong turn. Unfortunately there was no wooden bridge which meant she was definitely lost.

Pulling into the first side road she saw, Bella stopped her truck and lay her head on the wheel. She was in the middle of berating herself for not paying attention to where she was going when she heard voices.

Looking up she saw two men, clearly arguing, in front what appeared to be a large boarding house. She watched in mild interest, ignoring her own problems, until one of the men, the one with black hair, climbed into a vintage car and sped off down the road past her, seeming not to notice her. Shrugging, Bella started her truck back up and pulled into the drive, hoping to ask the other man, with brown hair, for some directions, only to find the area empty when she stopped.

“Great,” she muttered under her breath as she walked towards the door, her hand raised to knock when she heard something behind her. Spinning around she saw the other man walk into a wooded area that seemed to surround the building. There was no way he hadn't heard her.

Without hesitating she stomped after him. Seriously, was Mrs Flowers the only one in this town with any manners?

She froze after she'd been walking less than a minute. The guy had been just ahead of her so where had he vanished to? Maybe... maybe he was like Katherine, she'd moved impossibly fast.

Her breathe caught in her throat.

Maybe following him had been a bad idea. She didn't know what these people were. Her first thought had been vampire, but the eyes were wrong, they didn't sparkle... Katherine's skin had felt like her own. Maybe they were but, like, a different breed?

She was so lost in thoughts that it took her a minute to notice that she had in fact caught up to him. She almost wished she hadn't.

He was crouched down, teeth embedded in a deers throat, a small trail of blood dripping to the ground.

She tried to back away, Edwards warnings about her being unable to see him hunt because she would be a distraction and end up hurt came to mind. She'd only reached the entrance of the small clearing when she tripped backwards over a something. Hissing, she pulled her hand up for inspection.

Everything froze and the second seemed to last forever as she dragged her eyes up from her bleeding hand to ravenous red eyes.

Right about now felt like the right time to gulp.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please also note I've written this at 2am, with a migraine, after drinking Brut, having survived what felt like the longest shift in history. =P


	5. She Used to Love Clearings

Without a thought Bella jumped to her feet and turned to run only to find the 'vampire' in front of her. Startled, she fell again, this time rather than even trying to get up she just began to crawl backwards. Deep down she knew she couldn't out run him, but she couldn't just give up, not after everything she'd been through. She'd almost got to the tree line when he grabbed her, dragged her to her feet and slammed her back into a tree. Bella bit her lip to keep herself from crying out, it wouldn't do her any good, this place was isolated. She struggled against his grip. Her reward was having the wind knocked from her lungs as he slammed her into the tree again.

Gasping. Tears. Fear. She closed her eyes. _This was it._

She shuddered as he lifted her wrist up. Opening her eyes, she watched him sniff it, like the ladies in old time movies would do when they received flowers from their lover. Only he didn't smile to himself. No, he hissed, tearing the bracelet from her wrist and throwing it clear across the clearing.

This time when he looked at her, he did smile. It was a grotesque thing that froze her insides. He suddenly struck her as someone who liked to play with their food. He proved her right when he leaned in close, stared into her eyes and whispered in a silky voice, “ _Run. I like a chase. Improves the flavour._ ”

With that he dropped her on the ground and took a step back but instead of running, Bella stood her ground. She wasn't stupid. She knew she wouldn't win here. Risking a look she saw him growing agitated and tried to shuffle back to the trees none existent safety. He yanked her forward and threw her threw her across the floor. Rolling to a stop, Bella watched, detached, as he stalked towards her, pulled her up. With one last look at her face he pushed her head to the side.

Silent tears steamed down her face as she felt his fangs pierce her skin. Felt as he sucked the blood from her body. Felt light headed.

She was closing her eyes to the woozy feeling when she unceremoniously felt the ground beneath her hands again. Dragging herself onto her knees she looked up to see the black haired man holding her attacker against the same tree she'd been slammed into. Looking on silently she watched her saviour slammed a broke branch through the others stomach. Her attacker screamed. The veins beneath his eyes receded. The red faded to brown. Shame filled them. As they locked eyes Bella realised the shock of the wound must've brought him out of his bloodlust.

Not wanting to be in the woods with she was now sure were two vampires, she forced herself onto her feet and turned to leave.

“Wait!” came a voice from behind her. She froze, the voice seeming to reverberate inside her, tickling unknown senses. She turned back around to find the darker haired man slowly walking towards her. There was a small pause as he took her in before he looked into her eyes. “You'll were never here. You tripped, you fell, a puppy got you in the park.”

Her head tilted, almost without her permission, “Why do your eyes do that?”

The man in front of her seemed to freeze and he looked her over again, frowning. This time the younger one spoke up, she hadn't noticed him approaching, “It won't work Damon, I, uh, tried.” He ducked his head, clearly upset with himself. Giving him a quick once over, Bella noticed the branch was gone and if it weren't for the bloody hole in his shirt she never would've guessed he'd just been doing a coat rack impression.

The older man, Damon's eyebrows somehow furrowed further, “Do you drink vervain?”

Now it was Bella's turn to furrow her eyebrows, “Huh? What's vervain?”

Sighing and choosing to ignore her, Damon turned away, “Stefan, who is this?”

The younger one, Stefan, shrugged, “I don't know. I've never seen her before. She was wearing a vervain bracelet though. It's over there... somewhere.”

Bella sighed, yanked her shirt off and shoved into her neck, clearly she wasn't getting away any time soon. “You do know you could just ask me, yeah?”

The two turned back to her, Stefan wincing as he looked at the shirt.

“Fine, who are you? What are you?” Damon asked lowly.

“Bleeding,” She snarked back, “I'm Bella Swan, Virgo. I was hoping to just pass through, only my dad, he's a police officer by the way, cancelled my card so now I'm stuck in this weird town with no money, hiding from my vampire ex-boyfriend and the wannabe-boyfriend the werewolf. Will that do? I can smell it and it's making me want to throw up.” She finished, panting from the exertion. She had no idea why she told them all of that. She was gonna put it down to blood loss.

Damon looked shocked whilst Stefan seemed pensive.

“Smell what?” Damon asked after a few beats.

“The blood.”

“Pretty sure you can't smell it.”

“You're not the first vampire to tell me that, and knowing my luck, you won't be the last,” Bella sighed, pulling the shirt away slightly.

Damon laughed, “You don't like blood but you dated a vampire?”

“His group were vegetarians. It wasn't... Well it wasn't often an issue.” She let her arm drop completely.

Stefan perked up, “Vegetarian?”

Bella touched her neck, luckily it was no longer actively bleeding, “Yeah, they ate animals instead, like I'm assuming you were trying to do before I stumbled into your path. Anyway, can I go? I need something to eat... and I can't go back to the bedsit like this, Kat will think she can have a drink too.”

She saw the two brothers freeze. Damon was the first to summon his voice, “ _Kat_? As in Katherine Pierce?”

Bella nodded slowly, glancing between the two, “Why?”

Instead of responding, Damon picked her up and ran her back to the house, but unlike when Edward used to run, this didn't make her feel sick, it just felt... familiar.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Bella may seem a little OOC buuuuut she is suffering from blood loss, so shh ;]


	6. Bloodloss = Cranky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the wait, I’ve been working everyday for the last week and don’t have another day off until Friday! I wasn’t going to post till then but I thought “feck it”  
> So here’s a chapter to tide you over till Friday, sorry about the length!!

Upon reaching the boarding house, Damon dropped her unceremoniously onto the couch and left the room only to return seconds later with a first aid kit and two mugs of drink. He desposited them all on the table before reaching towards the jacket Bella was holding to her neck.

Getting the hint she passed it to him and he proceeded to hold it out to his left.

"Burn this please, if that's not too much for you."

Bella looked to where he was pointing the jacket and was surprised to see Stefan stood in the rooms archway. This further proved that the younger vamp had more than adequate control over his bloodlust in normal circumstances, definitely more control than Jasper possessed as he hadn't been able to be around for, well until the Cullens returned after Edward's suicide trip.

She couldn't help but frown though as he left the room with her jacket, if was one of her favourites, her nana had made her it just before she died.

"He'll buy you a new one," Damon stated, obviously guessing her train of thought.

She looked up at him, "Does he know this?"

Damon smirked in a way that told her he would soon and Bella couldn't help but laugh, even as he tilted her neck to expose it so he could clean and dress it.

"Are you brothers?" Bella asked to distract herself from the fact that he kept getting closer and closer to her neck. He just nodded in response. "Like real brothers?"

He chuckled, "As opposed to?"

"The coven I knew, they said they were brothers but it was just a title, a role to keep the locals curiosity at bay."

Damon pulled back, reaching for some medical tape, "Coven? This where your vampire boyfriend was from? Didn't realise my kind still called them that."

"Ex." She interjected, causing him to smirk, "And they weren't quite like you. They were... different.”

She watched Damons brow furrow as the leaned back, checking his work before dropping the cloth he’d used to clean her on the table beside the rest of the first aid kit. “Different how?”

”They were less human, I suppose”, at his now quirked brow she added, “They were cold ones."

The words had barely left her mouth when Damon moved, now stood on the other side of the table, looking at her like she was insane,  "Are you out of your mind?” Yup, definitely thinks she’s insane then, “Do you have a death wish?"

She sighed, she’d heard this speech before, "Why would you say that?"

“The cold ones are the most volatile race of vampires," came Stefan's voice from the archway. This made Bella jump, she didn't realise he'd returned, "They are next to impossible to kill, they have these _gifts,_ some can even control your thoughts, and the bloodlust they experience is dangerous, they smell it and you’re done for."

"Hello?" Bella said, pointing at the now covered wound on her neck. She felt bad for it though when she saw Stefan's face drop. "Sorry, I didn't mean to… I know about how crazed they are, trust me."

"How would you know? How could you possibly know? You're still here, alive, obviously you got lucky," Damon bit out from the bar on the other side of the room, when he’d moved, she had no idea.

Regardless Bella could feel her anger building, "Lucky? Sure, I'm lucky this didn't turn me," she said loudly, pulling up her sleeve she had out her wrist to show them the crescent scar that would forever sit there.

Stefan slowly took hold of her arm, clearly trying not to spoke her, twisting it this way and that, running his thumb over it. “This shouldn’t be possible, you should be one of them. Their bites turn humans.”

”Well the psycho that gave me that wasn’t trying to turn me, so...”

”Like I said,” Damon rejoined the conversation, lifting a drink in her direction as though to congratulate her, “Lucky.”

Both Stefan and Bella stared him, before Bella scoffed "Yeah, I guess I am lucky my ex's family killed the vampire that did this to me, it was great, especially when they inevitably set his mate on me. I'm lucky that less than a week ago I watched people I know died; that I saw so many peoples lives destroyed for someone's revenge on me. I'm lucky I have… had two supernatural friends fighting for me; tearing me down; that I had to confront the freaking Volturi and risked my life to save everyone I loved. I'm lucky that the Volturi are now watching my every move waiting for me to be turned or they'll come and kill me. So sorry Damon, I guess you’re right, heck, I’m practically the luckiest girl in the world!" she yelled, storming towards the door, only to find Damon in her way.

Without any apology or even an inkling of understanding, he just stated, "We can't let you leave."

Getting right into his face Bella snarled, "Yeah, try and stop me."

Before shoving him out of her way, ripping open the door and storming out of the house.


	7. Support

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note; I lied.

Damon watched as she stormed out into the night before turning back to his brother and smirking, "I like her."

Stefan just raised an eyebrow before grabbing his jacket and walking out of the house in the direction Bella had gone.

 

FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS

 

Stefan had only been looking a few minutes when he found her. She was sitting on the ground trying to fixed the broken links on her bracelet.

"That has vervain in it," he told her, causing her to jump and drop a piece of the chain.

"Don't do that," she scolded him, rubbing her hands down her face.

He walked around to crouch in front of her, "Sorry. Here," he said passing her the chain she was hunting for in the leaves.

"Thanks”, she muttered averting her eyes and tucking her hair behind her ear, “Erm, what's vervain sorry. I heard you mention it earlier," she replied whilst trying to focus on fixing the bracelet.

"You don’t know what it is?” This seemed to confuse him, so she shrugged, hoping he’d understand she felt the same, “The liquid in that heart, that’s vervain. It repels my kind, can cause us harm and it also stops us getting into your head and compelling you," he explained, passing her another piece of chain.

"Compelling, is that like dazzling?" taking in his perplexed expression she added, "Like tricking the brain, making the person do something they wouldn't normally want to?"

He smiled at her, "Exactly."

"But you can't compel me, can you?" She said giving him a smug look.

"How did you know? Oh, did you hea-"

Bella interrupted him, "That and I can't be dazzled, my mind can't be read, it's like my brains on a different frequency or something. Don't worry," she finished in whisper, "You're not losing your touch."

Stefan chuckled for the first time that evening. It felt good, it'd been a while since he'd laughed with someone who wasn't Elena, heck, it'd been a while since he'd laughed with anyone. Bella soon joined in, "It feel so good to laugh again."

 

FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS

 

When Bella and Stefan returned to the house, her bracelet was once again intact and the sun was starting to set. They hadn’t realised they'd been out so long until the shadows between the trees began to thicken. Surprisingly, him and Bella had a lot in common. They both kept journals, loved classic books and were closet Buffy fanatics.

"I still reckon Joss Whedon must've met one of your kind! His vampires are so freakishly accurate, it's sort of bizarre. Although, I have to say, the veiny eye thing you have going on is slightly more attractive than those scrunched up faces his vamps had. Other then that, he got the sunlight, stakes and fire right."

Stefan laughed, "But not the holy water, garlic and dusting."

"Psht," Bella scoffed, "He was pretty darn close!"

“Yeah, as close as you finding waldo everytime on the first glance."

Bella couldn't help but burst out laughing, "What kinda of comparison is that? Way too many words!"

Stefan blushed a little, "I was trying to improvise."

"Don't give up the night job anytime soon."

Both laughing, they dropped side by side onto the couch. Just as they were starting to calm down, Bella shouted, "Waldo!" And they cracked up all over again, not noticing the dark haired teen who'd followed them in standing in the archway. She stood stock still for over a minute taking in the site, not missing the light shoves they shared, she decided to make her presence known by clearing her throat.

Instinctively, Stefan jumped to his feet as he took in his 'opponent',  relaxing when he saw who it was and slowly made his way over to her and embracing her. Not noticing Bella also stand up and look around for ... something. She'd thought that the Salvatore's were going to live up to their namesake and save her from Katherine, but there Stefan was, hugging her.

"Who's this?" 'Katherine' asked, looking over Stefan's shoulder.

Stefan turned and took in Bella's almost defensive stance, he smacked his forehead. Of course Bella would be unsettled. "This is Bella," he said pointing and dragging 'Katherine' over to her, "Bella, this is Elena."

He waited for the whole 'but she looks like Katherine' conversation but was surprised when Bella just straightened her stance, took a hold of Elena's hand and smiled, "Hello Elena. Sorry about that, it was rude, I thought you were someone else."

Now was Elena's turn to look between the other two, "She knows."

"Seems like all the cool kids know nowadays," came a sarcastic voice from the stairs, "And the uncool ones too. Morning all," Damon smirked wondering back out of the room and coming back with a glass of blood.

"Bon appetite," Bella said, drinking from an invisible cup.

"She knows you're vampires?"

Bella sighed, "She's right here."

Elena had the courtesy to looked embarrassed," Sorry."

"It's okay," Bella smiled before it slipped from her face, "I am knackered. I'd best be heading back to Ms Flowers."

Damon walked to stand in her way again, groaning, "Didn't we do this already?"

"We did. Do you remember how it went?"

Stefan interjected, "It's probably best you stay here Bella. There's no telling what Katherine could do."

Bella laughed, "She's hardly going to kill me."

"Yet," Damon stated.


	8. Compelling Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got lost. Honest.

_Stefan interjected, "It's probably best you stay here Bella. There's no telling what Katherine could do."_

_Bella laughed, "She's hardly going to kill me."_

_"Yet," Damon stated._

**FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS**

Bella sighed as Stefan and Damon stood in front of her, trying to convince her to stay at the boarding house.

"She could easily kill you without so much as a second thought." Damon tried to drill in.

Stefan nodded, "Damon's right. You're of no importance to her end game, she doesn't have any reason to let you live."

"Heck she tried to kill me and Stef just last week, and she loves him," Damon sneered in response, jutting a thumb in his brothers general direction.

Stefan frowned at his comment and Bella watched as Elena rubbed Stefan's arm to try and calm him. Watching them reminded her so much of her time with Edward. She may not have loved him, but she had cared deeply for him, for Jacob also. She was brought out of her thought when Stefan threw a lamp at Damon.

"Stefan, how many times have I told you! Not the expensive stuff." Was Damon's mocking reply before he picked up a nearby stake and threw it at Stefan's leg, causing the younger brother to drop to the floor, “This is why we can't have nice things!”

Elena glared at Damon before running over to help Stefan.

With all the commotion going on, Bella silently picked up her jacket from the coffee table and started to creep towards the door, hoping no one would notice her leave. Luck was not on her side, she was just reaching for the handle when she was pulled back and pushed into a wall.

"Was that necessary?"

Damon snorted, "You honestly thought neither of us would hear you leave?"

Bella felt the beginnings of a smile on her face, "More like hoping."

"How many times do we have to go over this? Did it not sink in?"

Bella frowned, "Stay away from Katherine, she doesn't need me, she'll kill me. I got it."

"And you're still going?" Damon asked in disbelief, “Even Elena the martyr isn't this stupid!”

"Of course."

"And how do you expect her not to notice your new hickey?"

Bella laughed, "I don't."

Damon was feeling lost, "How are you going to explain it then?"

Bella rolled her eyes before making her voice more monotonous, "I went for a walk in the woods. I got lost and an animal attacked me." She laughed at his shocked expression, "You think I don't know these things? Please, I dated a vampire remember? Although they do things differently, I've seen how a _compelled_ person acts. I'll be fine."

Damon glared, "It's not an option."

Bella could feel the anger rising in her, "Excuse me? What gives you the right to tell me what to do? I don't know you, you don't know me! So I'm going to go live _my_ life in _my_ bedsit room. Goodbye Damon!"

With that she stormed out of the front door. Damon meanwhile still stood in shock, watching her fade into the night. No one had spoken to him like that in years, except for Elena, but even she wouldn't yell at him, there were limits. But this girl? There was something different about her. He'd smelt it when Stefan had been feeding from her, heck he could still smell it. And he wanted to know what it was, and what Damon wants, Damon gets.

**FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS**

Bella fell onto her bed as soon as she entered her room.

Today had been long and very draining, pun intended, and now all she wanted was to sleep, but today obviously wasn't her day. The second her back had hit the bed Katherine's voice had rang out from a darkened corner.

"Where have you been?"

Bella jumped up from the bed and turned to look where she'd heard the voice, "What are you doing in here?"

With a quiet click, the lamp on the desk Katherine was sitting on lit up, making the vampires annoyed face visible.

"What's that on your neck?" She asked, appearing at her side in a flash, touching the bandage on her neck, "What happened?"

Bella stiffened before repeating to her what she'd told Damon, straight face and all. She watched in mild amusement as Katherine rolled her eyes and muttered, "I really need to deal with Damon."

Why did everyone always think the worst of Damon, I mean sure, he was a bit of an ass and he was mean to Stefan, he'd been nothing but sort of sweet with her, in a caveman-ish manner. He'd made sure she was okay, tried to protect her from the vampire that now stood in front of her cursing the Salvatore name.

Suddenly Katherine was in her space again, looking her straight in the eyes, "Don't move, don't make a noise."

Bella had to fight to stop herself from stiffening as Katherine lifted the bandage from her neck and sniffed the wound before sticking the tip of her pinky in. She watched in somewhat frozen fascination as Katherine licked her finger before replacing the bandage.

"Ooh Stefan you have been a naughty boy," she chuckled before turning back to her. "Go to bed, in the morning you won't remember seeing me"

She stayed frozen until she heard Katherine's door close up the hall. Letting out the breath she had been holding in she flopped down onto her bed again.

Her gaze on the ceiling, she thought back over her day. A few things bothered her though, if Katherine thought she could compel her and was making no move to kill her, what was she going to have Bella do. And more importantly, why did she feel like she'd been here before?

 


	9. Meetings

Bella has been asleep less than an hour when there is a knock on her window. She checked herself before checking it out, luckily she'd fallen asleep fully dressed otherwise this could've been more embarrassing, in her rush to leave Forks she's pretty sure she forgot to pack any pyjamas. She froze, however when midway to the window it slid open.

"I know you're awake," came an annoyed voice from the window.

She frowned as she saw Damon sitting on the low roof next to her window. "What are you doing here Damon?"

He let out an impatient huff, "Waiting for you to invite me in."

A bark like laugh escaped her mouth, "I think not. Just tell me whatever important information you have that requires you to wake me in the middle of the night and leave."

"Well if you're not going to invite me in, could you come out here?"

Bella's eyed widened, "On the roof?"

Damon pulled a ' _duh_ ' face at her, reaching a hand towards her as far as it would go without actually entering the room.

"Yeah, not the best idea, knowing my luck I'd fall off."

"Well then just sit on the ledge and I'll carry you down to solid land."

She bit her lip and leaned round him to see how far down the ground was, as though sensing her apprehension he cut in, "I promise not to drop you."

"Wait here." She said before disappearing from his view.

Bella heard him scoff at her comment as she searched through her duffel bag for a jumper, October was definitely not a warm month in Mystic Falls. Punching her arms through the sleeves on her way back to the window she asked, "Where's Katherine?"

"Not sure but she's not here right now so hurry up. Just sit on the outside of the window and I can lift you down."

She did as he'd asked and as soon as she'd passed the windows threshold Damon grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close, smirking at the little gasp she'd let out before stepping off of the edge of the roof. Placing her down he chuckled at her heart rate, it'd picked up the second he'd stepped towards the edge of the roof and was still beating out a samba.

"It's not funny. You could've warned me."

Damon stepped back from her and guided her to a nearby bench, "Oh if you could hear your heart you'd chuckle too."

Sitting down she turned to him, "No I wouldn't! That was mean."

"Really? I saw the way you were looking at the ground, if I'd have let you prepare you would've chickened out and gone back to bed. Wouldn't you?"

He had her there. She chuckled lightly, "Edward would never have done anything like that. I'm the fragile human."

Damon frowned back at her, "From what I've seen, you're not fragile. For one, no one speaks to a vampire the way you spoke to me. You went off with Stefan alone after he tried to kill you. You didn't even question Elena's resemblance to Katherine. Actually if anything, I wouldn't say you were fragile, just missing a few screws up here." He said touching her forehead.

She smiled wryly, picking at the peeling paint on the bench seat, "Probably. I don't exactly make the best decisions."

"But you don't make the wrong ones."

"How would you know?"

Damon put his hand on hers to stop her picking all the paint off, "Just a feeling I have."

Bella gently pulls her hand out from under his and looks out over the bedsits flower garden, "I feel like I've been here before. This place, the people, this situation. It's ... unnerving."

"Maybe you have."

"I think I'd remember it!" She laughed, "You're certainly an unforgettable bunch."

"Am I the most unforgettable?" He asked winking at her.

Bella thought over it awhile. "No. Katherine is. She's ... something else."

Damon huffed again. Bella shoved his shoulder, "You need to stop doing that, it's unbecoming of you."

"Okay, mom!"

Suddenly a car pulled into the drive, before Bella could even think about what was happening, Damon had picked her up and jumped back up to her window, "Go inside, pretend to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow," he whispered in her ear, helping her through the window as far as he could reach.

"Why would I see you tomorrow?"

He sighed and hold our a slip of paper. "Text me and I'll tell you. Now I have to go before Katherine detects me. Night."

Without thinking he leaned in and kissed her cheek as she leaned forwards to grab the paper before finally disappearing from view.

**-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS**

Bella tried not to overthink things as she climbed into her bed. It was just a goodnight kiss, nothing more. She had to stick her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing at the image of Damon trying to give Stefan a goodnight kiss that was flashing through her mind. She froze as she heard Katherine's door close up the hall, Bella pulled out her cell and typed in the number on the slip of paper Damon had given her.

_Damon, it's Bella._

**What no kiss? Did Katherine pop her head in to check on you?**

Bella sighed.  _She's not my mother. But no. She didn't. Why were you here anyway? Just realised that you didn't say._

**Maybe it's a secret...**

She contemplated not replying and just going to sleep. He obviously wasn't in a helpful mood. Just as her finger hovered over her cells power button, he text again.

**Okay, fine. I came to apologize.**

She could feel the shock on her face.  _Damon Salvatore is apologizing? Does this happen often?_

**Increasingly.**

_What's happening tomorrow?_   He obviously felt uneasy about the previous topic so she decided to change it.

It took nearly ten minutes for Damon's reply to come through.

**You're going to meet the rest of the gang.**

_There's more of you? Who?_  She had admit, she was intrigued, with Edward no one had been allowed to know what was going on.

**A witch, another vampire, two human with fancy rings that stop them dying. No one too interesting.**

_How is that not interesting? :O_

She couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped her at Damon's reply.  **Well you've already met me.**

_What makes you so special ;)_

**Are you flirting with me Miss Swann?**

Bella froze. Had she been? She'd never even flirted before. She didn't know how to! Edward had never needed or wanted that from her. Maybe she was. Was that so bad? Well duh! You don't want to involve yourself with another vampire, especially one who thought so highly of himself. She was distracted from her musings by her cell vibrating again.

**Woops, did I embarrass you? Don't worry, everyone does it. I'm irresistible!**

_Psht, please get over yourself. I've met hotter men!_

**Shapeshifters naturally run hot, doesn't count!**

_Not what I meant ;)_

Oh god, she was doing it again, what was getting into her! Before he could text back she sent him another message.

_Where's this going down?_

**FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS-FS**

Damon smiled to himself. She was fun to talk to. He looked down at his cell.

_Where's this going down?_

He smirked as he typed in his reply.

**Hold onto your hat. You're going back to high school.**


	10. Early Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From nothing to three chapters.  
> Mostly filler... mostly.

Bella had tried continually to get an explanation from Damon but he was obviously ignoring her texts. Growling, she punched her pillow before dropping on it. Falling straight to sleep from sheer exhaustion.

The next morning she woke to sunlight streaming through her window where she'd forgotten to close the curtains the night before after Damon had left. She threw the duvet off of her and pat her hand around her bedside table trying to find her phone. She sat up as she found it and opened one bleary eye to check that time. _6:36am!_ _ _Six-frigging-thirty six!__ Chucking her phone to the end of her bed as though it had offended her, she flung her legs over the side of the bed and almost fell over as she stumbled over to the window to close the curtains when something caught her eye.

In the crack under her door was a manilla envelope. She bent down to pick it up and saw a post it note on the other side from Mrs Flowers;

__**This was left in the lobby for you.** _ _

Taking great care not to get a paper cut, Bella opened the envelope and tipped the contents onto her desk. Inside was an I.D., transfer papers and a birth certificate. She couldn't hold back the gasp that left her throat. Just then her cell vibrated on the bed. Not even looking at the caller I.D. she answered.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Bella, you sound flustered, I take it you just got my present," came Damon's voice through the headset.

"Erm, yeah. Why?"

She could hear him scoff, and rolled her eyes. "How else do you expect to get into high school? You sure don't have the money to pay them off!"

Bella frowned, "I wasn't planning on going to high school!"

"How do you expect to get an education and get into college?"

"I was going to do an online course. And for your information, I've already gotten into plenty of colleges, in fact I was considering accepting Dartmouth's offer!" She told him, her voice getting more hostile. She hated when people questioned her intelligence.

"Yeesh! Chill out Bella. And congrats, I hear it's a good school, think my brother may even have gone there once or twice."

She took a deep breathe before responding, "Sorry, I'm not a good morning person."

"I gathered," she heard him laugh down the phone and felt a small smile form on her face, "Well stop standing there and get ready for school. I'll be by in 20 minutes to pick you up and bring you to ours, that way you can travel there with Stefan and Elena."

"20 minutes?" She practically yelled into the handset, any trace of a smile dropping off of her face, "It's not even 7am and I know for a fact no school starts before 8:30! I'll be at yours for 8 o'clock sharp. Bye Damon." With that she slammed her phone shut and threw it back on the bed before dropping herself beside it, gripping her hair in frustration before realising how silly she was being and picking her phone up once again.

__Sorry. I'm being unreasonable. I'll be at yours for 8. Would be suspicious if you picked me up.__ She typed into her phone, not trusting herself to call him back with the chance of her yelling and having to apologize again. Less than a second had gone by when she got a reply.

****I know the feeling. Fine. See you at 8.** **

Bella smiled as she stood up again before walking over to her duffel bag. She rummaged for a while trying to find something appropriate, she wanted to make a good first impression, there was no telling how long she could be here.

Grabbing a pair of skinny grey jeans, some underwear and her chucks, she started hunting for a t-shirt, not really finding anything that felt _right_. She was considering just sticking on a sweatshirt when she came across the blue top that Edward had always liked and tilted her head to study it before adding it to her pile, picking up a towel and heading across the hall to the wash room.

After thoroughly scrubbing herself in the shower she dressed and appraised herself in the mirror. She smiled, it did look good on her, not only that but it also signified, in her mind at least, the lack of pull she felt towards Edward. Heading back to her room she grabbed her very small and practically empty make-up bag and dropped herself into the desk chair, placing a mirror in front of herself. She'd just finished moisturising her face when she noticed the bunched up bandage on her neck. It shocked her for just a second, she'd forgotten all about it. She quickly tied her hair back and winced, her fingers poised to pull the bandage off. Taking a deep breathe she ripped it off, barely noticing the pain because of the shock of what the mirror showed her.

Her neck had healed.


End file.
